Who Am I?
by vincents-smile
Summary: Tadashi's best-friend Kai discovers something she wished she'd never found out. With her true story uncovered, will she prevail or will she crumble? Can she truly see herself as herself after the occasion? Tadashi and Hiro are determined to help in any way possible, but Tadashi can only keep back his true feelings for so long...
1. Chapter 1

"Kai, will you stop fooling? We've got stuff to get on with!" Tadashi shouted through his and Hiro's bedroom. He sat on his large bed, with a laptop over the top of his thighs, thoroughly concentrated into his work, whilst his young brother and friend Kai wrestled on the wooden floor.

"I'll stop when Hiro says he submits" she grinned devilishly with Hiro trapped in a lock on the floor, but Hiro wasn't giving in so easily. Tadashi rolled his eyes at the two's foolish behaviour, but a guilty feeling washed over him as he realised that he and Hiro used to be like that together. Why weren't they anymore? Tadashi had just been overwhelmed with work at his university, the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.

"You think I'll just wimp out?" Hiro giggled manically as he struggled to get out of her grip, but she wasn't letting go so easily. After another attempt of wriggling his way out, he huffed. "Who trains you?" he spoke, but he wasn't surprised by her strength anymore. She had been spending a lot of time at the local gym for a few years now.

"Kabuto Seinosuke, you won't find a better personal trainer" she snorted, wondering how long Hiro could go before he finally swallowed his pride and gave in. "Just say you've been bested and it's all over"

Tadashi was growing bored of their shenanigans, he just wanted to get his work over with but he couldn't do that without Kai's input. He always had someone proof read his work, and he mostly preferred Kai to do it. Tadashi lightly tossed his laptop to the other side of the bed and stood to his feet. He threw his hat onto the bed frame and slowly made his way over to the two. He questioned where one body started and the other ended, wondering how they got into such a tangle in the first place.

"Oh good, Tadashi, help a brother out" he snickered

"If he's going to help anyone" Kai grunted, now struggling to keep her grip "It'll be me, right Dash?"

"He's a good brother, he wouldn't help an outsider!" Hiro teased, squirming around some more. Tadashi passed the mess they had gotten themselves into and stood by the door frame, about to leave. He held onto the frame and paused

"I think I'd rather go get some food, I'll let Aunt Cass that you're both in a bit of a... mix up" he laughed to himself quietly and walked down the stairs, making barely any noise whatsoever.

Hiro and Kai looked to each other, both the same idea in their heads.

"Draw?" Kai asked

"Draw" Hiro agreed and the two of them let go, instantly untangling from each other and racing to the door, fighting to get out of the room before one another.

By the time the two of them landed downstairs, Cass had just served their food onto plates and Tadashi was about to dig in.

"You decided to join us then?" Tadashi sniggered

"Wrestling again?" Cass sighed, rolling her eyes simultaneously

"Hey, I'm down a few points here, I need to get them back" Hiro smiled and the two of them took a seat around the table

"You two have been at this for at least a year now, when do you call it quits?" Cass asked as she dug into her own meal

"It's not me!" Kai excused herself with a giggle

"Hiro is just too proud to know when he's beat" Tadashi smirked and Hiro shot him an evil glare before starting his own meal, avoiding the vegetables. Tadashi's eyes flicked between Hiro and Kai, but they landed on Kai for a minute, he wouldn't have known that he was staring at her unless his Aunt Cass gave him a boot in the shin under the table. Quickly he snapped his gaze onto Cass, his eyebrows furrowed. She shot him a questionable look that he swiftly ignored.

An awkward silence fell in the room as all four ate their meal. Once they were done, Cass started to clear the plates away with Kai's help. Hiro retreated back to his room with a loud ' _thanks_ ' on the way up whilst Tadashi stayed downstairs to help with the washing.

"You two can go, I've got this" Cass encouraged with a smile

"I insist" Kai grinned politely "You're always so kind to me Cass, it's the least I can do" She spoke as she scrubbed one of the plates clean in the hot soapy water. Cass pouted with a humble smile and wrapped her arms around Kai's small athletic frame.

"You're so sweet"

"You go rest Cass, we've got this" Tadashi offered as Cass retracted her arms from Kai. Cass beamed at the two of them and quietly gasped. Tadashi knew that she worked hard all day, so this was the least they could do to give her some time off. Cass threw a towel at Tadashi who expertly caught it and she pushed herself up the stairs to lay down a while.

As Kai deposited freshly cleaned plates on the counter top, Tadashi dried them with a towel and stacked them, ready to be put away.

"Y'know, Cass really appreciates you" Tadashi grinned gratefully

"Only cos I do what her two dumb nephews should be doing" Kai winked, elbowing Tadashi in the side softly, forcing a light laugh out of him.

"I don't think the word is dumb"

"Fine, useless"

"Useless?!" he sniggered "I'll remind you of that next time you ask me to help with a project"

"When do I ever?" She gasped jokingly

" _Oh Tadashi, Tadashi, I'm so lost, I need your strong will and amazing guidance, whatever shall I do without my brave best friend?"_ He mocked

"Dash!" Kai inhaled

"What? That's exactly what you sound like" he beamed to himself, feeling rather proud of himself. Without a moments through, Kai pulled her wet, soapy hands out of the sink and tackled Tadashi, tickling him in the ribs and under his arms. He laughed so hard his stomach ached and he could barely get a word out of his sly mouth.

"Kai!" He exhaled forcefully

"Strong willed huh?" She joked still making him burst out with laughter "Brave?" she sniggered, but within an instant, Tadashi was able to regain his composure and stop her tickling him by grabbing her legs and throwing her over his shoulder, gently spinning her on the spot.

"DASH!" She cried out as he cackled some more, receiving that usual _six pack_ feeling from laughing too hard for too long.

After one turn, Tadashi spotted Hiro standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at them questionably. Tadashi cleared his throat and gently put Kai back on the floor, she noticed him watching them too.

"You guys are weird" Hiro whistled as he quickly hid his home-made fighting bot behind his back, hoping to god that Tadashi didn't see. Slowly he creeped his way to the door, his eyes glued to Tadashi.

"Where are you going?" Tadashi questioned with an eyebrow raised, Kai rested her hands on her hips, knowing exactly what was going on. Tadashi knew it too, but he wasn't letting on about it.

"I was going to go… meet… James… yeah, James!"

"Who's James?"

"James Mcvoy… Yep!"

"Weird"

"Why?"

"Just… I heard James is in Hawaii with his parents this week that's all" Tadashi smirked, un-impressed by his kid brother but slightly amused

"Oh" Hiro's smile dropped and suddenly he was out of excuses. Tadashi knew. He knew that he knew. "Well… never mind then"

"Yeah… never mind"

Hiro skulked back upstairs and as soon as he was out of sight, Tadashi and Kai burst out into laughter.

"He's so going to sneak out, you know that right?"

"Yeah, we should probably follow"

"Dash, leave him, he'll be fine" She held his arm in comfort, she knew how he felt on the matter, but often he was just being over-protective. Tadashi didn't reply to her, he shrugged her hand off his arm and returned to drying up the plates used that day. Once they finished cleaning they knew they had work to get done before it got too late.

"C'mon, we've got stuff to do" He sighed and she followed him up the winding staircase, both gently stepping over Mochi who laid in the middle of the stairs.

When they finally got to the Hamada brothers shared room, they found it empty, no Hiro in sight. Tadashi's mood instantly changed, it was clear that he was bothered.

"That kid!" Tadashi growled under his breath, his fists clenching together

"Dash, he'll be fine, he can take care of himself" Kai placed a hand on him for comfort, but it clearly wasn't enough. Tadashi flicked his eyes to her, but they didn't linger. Kai knew that he was going to go after him and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

"You just don't get it Kai" His voice was soft, but the words still cut deep. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and slowly nodded her head, agreeing with him. Her hand retracted back to her side and she grabbed her bag and laptop, throwing it over her shoulder whilst Tadashi saw the mistake in the words he chose. "Kai…" He sighed "I didn't mean-" his words were cut off before he could finish

"I get what you meant Tadashi" She forced a smile but he saw through it instantly, she stood by the door and before she left she turned her head to him "Text me when you're home" she took a deep breath and took quick steps down the staircase.

"Kai" He called but she didn't reply to him, he knew she was long gone. He bit his lip and grabbed his helmet, he had to find Hiro and then he could dwell on the situation.


	2. Chapter 2

When Kai got home she made a dash for her room, hoping to avoid her parents invading questions about school that day. Besides, she had work to get done for her project. She was currently working on telescope that directs you to the different constellations. It was still heavily in the works.

She closed the door quietly and deposited her bags remnants on her bed, when she opened up her laptop, a picture of them all at their university appeared on her screen. Gogo, Honey, Wasabi, Fred, her and Tadashi. After staring at the picture a while, it slowly faded into the next one, her and a young boy. She let out a sigh and remembered the day the picture was taken.

Her whole family was out on a picnic together, the picture was with her and her brother, Kaname. Strange how that day was full of good memories, but the reason for that day was quite the opposite. Kaname knew that he was dying of cancer and he didn't have long left. He told his parents that all he wanted to do for his last day, was to go on a big family picnic, like they used to before the diagnostic.

Clenching her teeth she pushed the thought from her mind and opened up a document and she set to work on her project.

An hour later, her phone lit up with the sound of a beep. She rubbed her eyes, after accidentally falling asleep and checked it

Just an email from her University. It was weird, Tadashi should have found Hiro by now. Maybe he had just forgotten to text her. She took a deep breath and remembered what he said to her, it wasn't necessarily what he said, and it was more how he said it. Although she understood what he was trying to say, it didn't come across.

She didn't expect him to understand, she didn't expect any of them to, but the thing that made it all better, was that they tried. No matter how far they were from experience losing a close sibling, they took their time and tried to process it the same, put themselves in her shoes. She couldn't have asked for a better group of friends.

"Kai?" She heard her mothers sweet voice from downstairs calling her, presumably just checking in on her as usual.

"Just working on the project mom!" She called down to her, hoping she wouldn't try talk some more. She loved her parents dearly, but she really needed to get some more of her project done.

"Kai? Will you come down here please? We need to talk!" She called again, this time really spiking Kais interest. Last time she said that was when Kaname was diagnosed with cancer. Her jaw clenched and she was instantly slightly nervous.

Carefully she ventured downstairs to see both her parents sat in the kitchen, cups of tea warming their hands.

"Sit down sweetie" Her father gesture softly, his voice gentle and very calm. Confused she obliged and sat in front of the pair, feeling four eyes glued to her.

"What- What's going on?"

Clearly her parents were un-easy and on edge, as her mother tried to talk, she stopped herself. Her father looked over and sighed, starting her sentence for her.

"We've been meaning to tell you this for a while now… it's not easy" he took a deep breath. Kai's eyes quickly flicked between the two, not focussing on either of them, she couldn't.

"Just know that… no matter what… we love you, unconditionally" her mother spoke up, snaking her arm around her husbands, gripping it tightly. Kai noticed a tear attempting to fall down her cheek, but she wiped it away before it could escape.

"Sweetie, when you were…" he took another deep breath and thought back "Two" he spoke again, confirming the age to himself "We're not your… we're not your birth parents honey" It was clear that this was hard for him to speak, but at first, Kai didn't think he was being serious. Like this was all some sort of a joke, but then she was reminded of how serious their expressions and tone was. This wasn't a joke.

In a quick second, it felt like her whole life started to fall apart.

"Wh- Who-" she started to speak but was barely able to put her words together

"We don't know your birth parents, but we know that they were unable to care for you, which is why you were taken to the kids home"

"So- So you just… you just lied to me?"

"Honey no" her ' _mothers'_ voice felt bittersweet "We should have told you sooner, I'm so sorry baby"

Kai had never felt a stranger in her own home until now

"We were so excited to bring you home with us Kai, as soon as we saw you, we wanted you, to give you a home… a family"

Kai's eyes switched between both of them again, unable to reside on either one. She felt a few tears forming but she didn't want to cry. Both of their voices faded into the distance as she took a moment to process, think, react and accept.

"We understand if you don't want to talk to us for a while, but you should know that no matter what, we love you, like our own. There is no difference, in our eyes, you're our daughter, and that will never change."

"So… What about Kaname?" was the first thing she asked, that all she really cared about. It was undeniable that her parents did truly love her, and they had been so great to her. As she thought back to all of her memories with them, it just became clear that they really did care for her like their own.

"Well. Around the time that we adopted you, we were… unable to have children of our own… Kaname was a miracle" Her father spoke, a twinkle in his eyes as he thought of his son

Kai swallowed the lump present in her throat, it was hard to process this, but she knew that it would be easier over time… she just had to accept it. At least now she knew. However she couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like if she had never known, she wouldn't have even guessed it.

"I'm… I'm gonna go to bed" she sighed, slowly standing up from the kitchen table and pushing her chair back with her legs. Her parents stood with her, a sorrowful look in their eyes.

"Okay sweetie, you let us know if you need anything okay?" Her mother approached her but subconsciously Kai stepped back. She felt awful in doing so but it had already happened before she knew.

"I will" she nodded her head and took a deep breath, pushing herself back up the stairs and into bed.


End file.
